It's a story I've been meaning to get at. Again.
York Regional Police headquarters will move to Aurora.
It's hardly news. But it was shaped that way.
It was the cause of the former Mayor's first Emergency.
November 2007
A lawyer was in the Council Chambers, having had discussions previously with the Mayor. All present were informed an in-camera meeting had been called on an urgent matter.
I asked. "Madam Mayor is it your intention to inform council what the meeting is about?
"Ah No Councillor Buck " she said "You will not drag me into that"
"That" was a requirement of the regulations. A Council may deal with certain items behind closed doors. However,the category of the item to be discussed must be disclosed.
The lawyer was escorted around the table and introduced to moi.
I told him if he wanted to talk he should pull up a chair.
He inquired had I retained legal counsel?
"Why would I do that?" I asked.
"I'm not suggesting it " he quickly assured me.
Then he proceeded to discuss the seriousness of being found guilty of a Conflict of Interest. He talked about severe and newly regulated penalties.
Finally his purpose was clear. The Mayor desired an in-camera meeting to talk about me without my presence. The lawyer, it seemed,had been instructed to dissuade me from attending.
So, I declared firmly. "I am a member of council. I intend to attend the meeting"
It was about a news story on Regional Plans to re-locate police headquarters and Aurora's refusal to sell land we had for sale on Don Hillock Drive for the purpose.
The Police Chief and Chairman Fisch came to an in-camera meeting in September.
Within a week Council met again in closed session and instructed the C A O not to continue discussions. Land purchases and sales was the function of the C.A.O.
By November,no decision had been reported out. No deal made.
The story appeared in The Auroran.
The proverbial organic mass hit the fan.
It's a mistake for anyone to imagine a complete understanding of an act or regulations is obtained simply by reading. One learns how it is intended by how it is applied.
Where the municipality's interest or privacy of an individual is at risk,The Act allows discussion behind closed doors.
Secrecy to cover collective political arses is not its purpose
Regulations require business concluded to be reported out in public.
But there's a flaw. There's No time limit to report out in the regulations.
By November, no release of our refusal to sell land we had for sale to the Region for Police Headquarters took place. Three months after the decision was made or failed to be made.
To this day,the decision is not acknowledged.
In fact,the ex- Mayor denied it happened.
From that debacle came the decision to create a Code Of Conduct to ensure Councillors would observe the highest standard of conduct; Services of an Integrity Commissioner were retained and ultimately yet another lawyer at a cost of $70,000, to generate and publicise a litany of dastardly deeds in the form of a complaint.
Meanwhile, it seems the Police added a third storey to a building constructed on the original site bought from the Town during Tim Jones' administration.
The Chief notes 60,000 square feet of unoccupied space on third floor of the building. He hopes headquarters will fit in when the space has been "renovated"
It is intended headquarters will move to Aurora next year.
Now I ask you.... what is that about?
Are we to believe it just happened that they built extra space that just happens to be the size needed to accommodate headquarters.
Did they just happen to build a six million dollar parking garage because the site was smaller than it needed to be.
It's five years since the Great Emergency was declared to distract attention from the news; Aurora had been so incredibly stupid as to refuse to sell land for the Regional Police to locate headquarters in Aurora.
A process was set in motion that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce a farce that will undoubtedly form an ignominious part of the town's history.
On February 9th 2012,a newspaper produced another chapter in a masterpiece of obfuscation.
Why?
Sunday, 19 February 2012
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13 comments:
If you could have a nightmare about something, they would do it. Imagine if they hadn't been so arrogant that they were tossed from office? That I have never understood ....sneaky and nasty but allowing it to seep out into Town. Leaving incoming Council to shovel the proverbial.
Aurora could have used a Staff Whistle-blower like Georgina's John McLean.
"On February 9th 2012,a newspaper produced another chapter in a masterpiece of obfuscation"
can’t wait for the next chapter that explains how it is that a brand new state of the art building requires a $2,000,000 renovation in order to accommodate the police , The level of incompetence both at the Region and the Town is staggering, Is it possible that this expenditure was yet another legacy left behind by not selling the needed lands to the Region in the first place ? If the previous council had cooperated with the Region might this expenditure of the same tax payers money have been avoided ,
lets hear about this Councilor
As usual with Mormac, this makes absolutely no sense. How could you not want the cop shop in Aurora? Morris called them so often that it became a standing joke and they did not refer to her kindly or by title. We never did figure out why she installed 2 locked doors to prevent access to her office. What in blazes was she expecting ? A herd of elephants ?
Windy keeps hinting that ' the truth will one day be known '. Can't happen soon enough for me but perhaps her truth varies from the usual sort. Maybe it is going to be a series written by Evilina and edited by Morris. Be still, my beating heart!
You've only told this story umpteen times.
Under English law, MISCONDUCT (or misfeasance) IN PUBLIC OFFICE is an offence at common law.
The Crown Prosecution Service guidelines on this offence say that the elements of the offence are when:
1. A public officer acting as such.
2. Wilfully neglects to perform his duty and/or wilfully misconducts himself.
3. To such a degree as to amount to an abuse of the public's trust in the office holder.
4. Without reasonable excuse or justification.
The similarly named MALFEASANCE (OR MISFEASANCE) IN PUBLIC OFFICE is a tort. In the House of Lords judgement on the BCCI Malfeasance Case it was held that this had 3 essential elements.
1. The defendant must be a public officer
2. The defendant must have been exercising his power as a public officer
3. The defendant is either exercising targeted malice or exceeding his powers.
Does this sound like anyone we know?
Please note that the sister paper to the Banner, the Advocat in Georgina supported Mayor Grossi while the twice a month Pefferlaw Post ran the heck out of the story. It must be dreadful to be a decent reporter with one of these papers and find a good story red-lined as offensive to advertisers. The group thrives on ads from towns all over and is not about to upset the apple cart. The editorial stance is always pro existing council which makes good economic sense. But the bits of news that do get printed cannot be called balanced. Which is why none of us consider them to be 'newspapers'. Bless the Auroran and beware of anything political emerging from Banner sources. Some day one of those 'editors' will run for office in some town and no one will realize the connections.
Has the Banner reported on Aurora allowing its staff to discuss the closed session or only on the possibility of canceling the contract with the Cultural Centre? Both were done at the same Council meeting. The information about Morris' case and the implications should be covered. The coverage of all three Aurora cases has been spotty at best and in at least one instance required a correction. All the news came from the Citizen, the Auroran and Evelyn's blog until the national press joined in.
Tracey Kibbel does the Advocat. When we complained about her writing, we were told 'she's all we've got'. Good to see you guys haven't forgotten us up here. The Post comes out on the 24th, the other thing .is Thursday,
i think. Cheers, Aurora.
Cllr Buck, why do you think Morris didn't want the new police building in Aurora?
Oh, my, you have pissed off the Mormac friend at the Banner. Incoming garbage.
It must be in your genetics. You simply can not see a wasps' nest without taking a crack at it. Had one kid like you and she turned out OK.
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